Page:Quiggin Dialect of Donegal 0016.png

 ɔ꞉ arises from ɔ by lengthening before R, r̥, rN, rt, rd, e.g. dɔ꞉rN, ‘fist’, Wi. dorn, but nom. plur. dïrNʹ; dɔ꞉rtuw, ‘spill’, M.Ir. dortad; ə Nɔ꞉r̥i꞉rʹ, ‘the day after to-morrow’, Di. oirthear, Wi. oirthir, airthir; ɔ꞉rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, M.Ir. ord, but nom. plur. o̤rdʹ, ïrdʹ; ɔ꞉rdαg, ‘thumb’, Wi. ordu; skɔ꞉rNαχ, ‘throat’, Di. scórnach, Macbain sgòrnan; tɔ꞉ruw, ‘funeral’, Di. tórramh, Wi. torroma; tɔ꞉r̥i꞉s, ‘number at birth’, Wi. torrchius; tɔ꞉rNʹæʃ, ‘big noise, row’, Di. tóirnéis.

O.Ir. eu, eó give ɔ꞉ by shifting of the stress in ɔ꞉lαχ, ‘acquaint&shy;ed, experi&shy;enced’, cp. O.Ir. eóla; ɔ꞉rNə, ‘barley’, M.Ir. eórna; gə dʹɔ꞉, ‘for ever’, cp. Wi. deod; dʹrʹɔ꞉lαn, ‘wren’, Di. dreólán; fʹjɔ꞉lʹ, ‘flesh’, O.Ir. feóil; kʹɔ꞉, ‘mist’, M.Ir. ceó; gə Lʹɔ꞉r, ‘suf&shy;ficient, plenty’, Wi. leór; Lʹɔuw, ‘to heckle’, Di. leodhaim, Wi. leo; ʃɔ꞉l, ‘sail’, O.Ir. seól; tʹɔ꞉, comp. of tʹe, ‘hot’, cp. Wi. teou s. tee. dʹɔ꞉r, ‘tear, drop’ is M.Ir. dér for which see Strachan Bezz. Beitr. xx 6 n.

Occasionally ɔ꞉ is the result of contraction, e.g. kɔ꞉χə mʹə, fut. of kɔhuw, ‘to feed’, Meyer cothaigim; kɔ꞉rʹ < comhair in Nʹi꞉ rαχət(ʹ) ʃi꞉ α χɔ꞉rʹ, ‘she would not go near him’, χɔ꞉r Nə Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘approach&shy;ing August’, χɔ꞉rʹ ə hi꞉n jɛəg, ‘nearly 11’, tα꞉ ʃɛ χɔ꞉rʹ mαruw, ‘he is almost dead’ (χɔ꞉rʹ is further reduced to χɔrʹ in χɔrʹ ə və, ‘almost’); ɔ꞉n, ‘Owen’, M.Ir. Eogan, tʹi꞉rʹ ·ɔ꞉nʹ, ‘Tyrone’.

Before the chief stress we sometimes find ɔ꞉ for uə, cp. Lɔχ ·pʹi꞉Nʹə §. This occurs in sLɔ꞉ ·ʃi꞉, ‘the fairies’, sluagh sidhe, plur. sLɔ꞉tʹə; rɔ꞉ ·bʹiNʹ, ‘brown hawk’, ruadh beinne, cp. Di. ruadhán alla, ‘sparrow-hawk’. ɔ꞉, ‘grand&shy;child’, O.Ir. haue, M.Ir. óa, úa, common in the phrase tα꞉ ʃiəd klαN əs ɔ꞉, ‘they are second cousins’. In family names it is reduced to α. In this connec&shy;tion we may note the Anglo-Irish ‘bórach’ (bɔ꞉rαχ) where in Irish one hears bw⅄꞉rαχ, Di. buarach and cp. further §.

In a few cases we find ɔ꞉ where we should naturally expect o꞉, e.g. ɔ꞉rαn, ‘song’, Meyer amrán; gɔ꞉Ltəs, ‘farm’, Di. gabháltas; gɔ꞉lə, gen. sing. of gɔ꞉lʹ, ‘yeast’, Di. gabháil but go꞉l, ‘groin’, go꞉lαχəs, ‘springing’ (of horses), go꞉m = gabhaim, v. §.

A close short o is heard in a few words in the vicinity of labials instead of ɔ. Examples꞉ brow̥, ‘blade of grass’,